The effect of context on the structure of categories

Three experiments examined the effect of context on the representativeness ordering of exemplars of a category. Experiments 1 and 2 employed an online reading time paradigm to examine the effect of context on the time it takes to establish an anaphoric reference between an exemplar and a category term. Experiment 1 demonstrated that context can change the relation between a category term and an exemplar at the time of comprehension. Experiment 2 showed that category terms presented in context generate graded goodness-of-example distributions of exemplars that are different from the distributions generated in the absence of explicit context. These distributions cannot be derived by assuming that the exemplar most strongly suggested by the context serves as the category representation. Experiment 3 employed a membership verification paradigm. Response time was found to be a function of degree of relatedness to the contextdependent category representation. Typicality, as determined in the absence of explicit context, had no effect on decision time. Several models, including some extensions of current semantic memory theories, are developed to account for the results of these experiments.     

Countertransference and the group therapist's state of mind

In this paper countertransference is discussed as an interference in the psychotherapists' state of mind. For the group psychotherapist the interferences have multiple origins. Oscillating demands for closeness to the group or distance from patients are indicators of complex dynamics. Inherent in group psychotherapy is the requirement of multiple identification with objects covering a developmental range for the therapist. A schematic model for the therapist's state-of-mind is offered in the hope that there can be greater clarity when countertransference is discussed.Paper presented at EGPS annual conference, Nov. 1, 1980.     

Coincidence of attention deficit disorder and atopic disorders in children: Empirical findings and hypothetical background

ADDH children are often reported to display signs of allergies to various substances and/or atopic (AT) symptoms (i.e., atopic eczema, hay fever, or asthma). Since, at least for a subgroup of these children, a common biological background for both ADD and atopy may be assumed that may involve brain catecholamines, our hypothesis was that in a group of AT children (mainly atopic eczema) signs of ADD should appear more often than in controls. Parental hyperactivity ratings revealed a significantly higher frequency of ADD symptoms in the AT group, and laboratory tests sensitive to attentional capacity and inhibitory functions showed poorer performance in the AT children, the findings being similar to those reported in hyperactives. Thus, our results add support to the assumption of a common predisposing factor for both AT and ADDH in a subgroup of children.     

Bargaining ability,the utility of playing a game,and models of coalition formation

A utility function for playing a given position in a game is developed as a natural extension of the utility function which defines the rewards available in the game. This function is determined by a player's opinion of his bargaining ability. A characterization of such utilities is obtained which generalizes previous results that the Shapley value and Banzhaf-Coleman index are both cardinal utility functions which reflect different bargaining abilities. The approach taken here is related to models of coalition formation.     

Orientation of stimuli and binocular disparity coding

An experiment is described which attempts to relate physiological work on disparity coding in the cat to a psychophysical situation using human subjects and Julesz stereograms composed of small line elements. It was found that depth perception occurred only if matching disparate lines in each stereogram shared a similar orientation. Depth began to deteriorate if an orientation difference exceeded 10° and it was extinguished at about 60°. The results are interpreted as supporting the hypothesis that shape-sensitive disparity detectors of the kind found in the cat exist also in man.     

Panic-disordered subjects' perceptions of film: a repertory grid study

Clinical research into panic attacks over the past two decades has led to the hypothesis that panic-disordered subjects may have a lower threshold to separation anxiety than normals. This hypothesis was investigated by measuring panic-disordered and normal subjects' reactions to viewing a film of a potentially anxiety-provoking situation. The extent to which individuals construe film through identification with the narrative's characters was also examined. To gauge these reactions a repertory grid was administered to 11 subjects with a history of panic disorder and 12 controls after they had watched a half-hour episode from a feature film in which a divorced couple fight acrimoniously over custody of their 17-yr.-old daughter. Five elements were characters mentioned in the film and two were of 'self,' one in a secure and another in an insecure situation. Ten constructs were elicited by a triadic sorting procedure and four were supplied. Ratings of elements on all constructs were subjected to a principal components analysis (INGRID). While the construals of the two groups were essentially similar, there were differences between them in terms of the perceived salience of the film's characters. Panic-disordered subjects also construed themselves as more insecure than did the normals. The results affirm the use of the repertory grid in the study of panic disorder and in the analysis of the perception of filmed events.